Credit card companies recently pushed for legislation to control the use of their cards for online gambling in a move that would certainly have surprised a lot of people. After all, commonsense dictates that these companies would be more than eager to earn a lot of money from their customers’ online activities. The surprising truth is that these companies actually lose a lot of money in the long run because people run up huge debts on their credit cards because they cannot control their gambling habit. They use the legal system to get these debts pardoned and the card companies lose money eventually.

Charge card companies have taken the initiative to address this situation and they have changed the terms and conditions under which they give out credit cards. These companies have increased the interest rates charged on certain transactions in order to deter customers from getting in these types of debt.

There is another reason why card companies feel ambivalent towards online gambling. This activity is illegal in many countries, the United States is a good example, but people just visit online sites located offshore so that they can keep gambling. There have been many instances of card companies getting into legal troubles because of enabling an illegal activity.

Gambling is an extremely exciting activity but it is also very addictive. People who are already addicted to gambling will only sink deeper into debt thanks to the ease with which they can access additional funds for gambling after they have lost the money they started out with. As a matter of fact, this is more of a problem at online casinos than land based ones because a person can just keep his credit card at home when visiting the latter. People who simply do not trust themselves to leave their credit cards alone should just give the cards to someone else when they gamble or get rid of them entirely.

Another interesting development in the gambling industry is the removal of PayPal from the list of permitted direct payment options of the best sites. This was a very convenient option for gamblers to transfer funds from their credit cards, either Visa or MasterCard, to their PayPal accounts

Since credit card companies do not have similar policies concerning the use of their cards for gambling, it is best for customers to read the terms and conditions of the gambling site before they actually sign up. This will help avoid a whole lot of problems at a later date when they actually start gambling and come across stiff fees when they attempt to deposit money into their accounts.

There is always a way to bypass any rule and this also applies to the use of credit cards for gambling. The simplest thing to do is buy a gift card with your credit or debit card. This gift card can then be used to pay for gambling services at an online casino without raising any red flags at the credit card company!